14 March 1998
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html
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[Congressional Record: March 10, 1998 (Senate)]
[Page S1709-S1710]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr10mr98-170]
TRIBUTE TO MR. FRED HITZ
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, on the occasion of the retirement
of Fred Hitz as the Central Intelligence Agency's first Presidentially-
appointed Inspector General, I want to offer my comments and
congratulations. Since the position of an independent Inspector General
for the CIA was created at my initiative in the FY 90 Intelligence
Authorization Act and since I have come to know Fred Hitz during my
tenure as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it
is fitting that I recognize his contributions.
By way of background, it became clear during the Iran-Contra
investigations that the Central Intelligence Agency lacked an effective
Office of Inspector General which not only could conduct thorough and
objective internal investigations of CIA activities, but even more so,
could exercise authority and independence to ensure that its
investigative recommendations regarding individual accountability and
systemic shortcomings would be followed through and implemented. The
proposal to create a Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed
independent Inspector General was met with fierce resistance by the
Administration and the Director of Central Intelligence. Nonetheless,
in light of the revelations from the Iran-Contra affair, the Congress
recognized the need for such an office. In my mind, the establishment
of an independent Inspector General for the CIA was the most effective
piece of legislation to derive from the Iran-Contra affair.
It was in this atmosphere that Fred Hitz was nominated by President
Bush in 1990, confirmed by the Senate in October 1990 and sworn in
November 1990. The Congress wanted a strong-willed and independent
individual who was knowledgeable of CIA's mission, history and
activities and who had the fortitude and skills to identify,
investigate and report wrongdoing when he saw it and how he saw it.
Over the past seven years Fred Hitz has accomplished this mandate with
honor and diligence in a sea of controversial investigations.
One of the most important, if not the most important, of the
investigations undertaken by Fred Hitz was that of the Aldrich Ames
case which provided the Intelligence oversight committees and the
public details of Ames' treachery and insight into CIA. In addition,
Fred Hitz has been fearless in taking on difficult and controversial
issues such as the role of intelligence in the BCCI and BNL scandals,
human rights abuses in Guatemala and Honduras, allegations of drug
trafficking by the Contras, the compromise of CIA operations in Paris,
and CIA involvement in providing assistance to a Presidential campaign
contributor. The Senate Intelligence Committee has not always agreed
with Fred's judgements in these matters; it never has questioned his
integrity.
Upon the completion of Fred's fifth year as CIA's Inspector General,
Senator Bob Kerrey and I led a bi-partisan resolution in the Senate to
commend Fred for his leadership and achievements.
In his lifetime, Fred Hitz has made an important contribution through
his public service. As an attorney who graduated from Harvard Law
School, he could have remained in the private
[[Page S1710]]
sector and reaped handsome financial rewards. He chose instead to
invest over 20 years in public service, and the United States
government and his country have been the chief beneficiaries.
Fred entered public service by teaching law in Nigeria and in 1967 he
entered the CIA. From 1974 to 1978 he served in the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, as a Senior Staff Member for Energy Policy in the
Office of the President and as Director of Congressional Affairs at the
Department of Energy. In 1978 he returned to the CIA where he served as
Legislative Counsel to the Director of Central Intelligence and later
as Deputy Director of the Europe Division in the Directorate of
Operations.
In my view, Mr. Hitz completes one of the most demanding assignments
in the federal government--Inspector General of the Central
Intelligence Agency. He has journeyed through the shoals of hawks and
doves, public reporting and security demands and admirers and
detractors by sailing a straight and visible course with honesty,
dignity and truthfulness. His efforts have made the Central
Intelligence Agency more accountable and thus more in consonance with a
Congressional view of the rightful role of intelligence and secrecy in
a democracy. For these qualities, Fred Hitz will be missed and I wish
him smooth sailing in his new teaching career.
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